"It's A Great Story After All....."
"Maybe it's really the most wonderful time of the year!" ~ Thomas at Tidmouth Sheds. '''"it's A Great Story After All...." (or Lovely Night) is the final episode of Season 5 as well as being the first written by TEHGJPTDDDO. Plot The winter season has made it's greatest blow and it's not stopping any time soon. All the engines, however, need to work extra hard because of the holiday season, especially because of the re-construction of Tidmouth Sheds. However, when its finished, the engines don't feel in the holiday spirit. Tired and exhausted, they had been beaten with the song "Deck the Halls!" so many times that they despise it. Thomas, however, wants the holiday spirit to grow. He asks the engines if he could tell them a story. The engines, dazed and bored, agree and so Thomas begins his whimsical tale... -------------------------------- It starts back in 1915, when he was just an engine attached to a train at all times that worked in a yard. Back then, it was a simpler time when all the engines could rest at their own will but tried their best when they weren't. A time with little drama and big goals. Thomas worked at Ulfstead yard where he needed to shunt trucks from a junction to another junction. It was a lot of work but very fun... to him at least. However, he wanted to go out and see the world. He got his first chance that very Christmas. A young man by the name of Peter Brown was in charge of the railway then and Thomas thought he was a nice guy. Tough times came that year but the Christmas season looked promising, but all the express trains were either being repaired, off-duty, or in-construction. Thomas was the only open engine. "Well, today you get to see the world..." Peter said time and time again that day. He was excited to see how I'd do and so was Thomas. Then Thomas got coupled up to two coaches called Marcus and Benjy. Both were well behaved and were coupled to me happily. They were excited to for the journey. Not many people came that day, however. The big station at Tidmouth was empty except for one old lady. Bitten by the frost, she needed to be taken to London Thomas' crew told her numerous times that we couldn't take her there but she had hearing problems. They felt sorry for her so she came on to Thomas' train and he went off to London. The tracks were freezing and slippery for a while until they came to Barrow, England. There, they waited for an engine by the name of The Great Bear to take the lady from there to London, but he didn't come. Somebody must have muddled up the crews schedule because The Great Bear didn't come until tomorrow. So Thomas took the lady to London as fast as they could. Soon they ran out of coal but luckily they were able to get some spare coal from a nearby station. Finally, after 3 hours of hardship and snow, they reached the big city of London. Thomas never went to London before but he never forgot how it looked like until he went there again in the '80's. Thomas then said that when they got to the big station in London, many people were waiting for her there. They were cold but none-the-less were in high spirit's. They were singing carol's like "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" and "The First Noel." Finally, when they were about to leave, they sang "We Wish You A Merry Christmas!" When they got back, Peter Brown was at Tidmouth waiting for Thomas' crew. He thought they went to Vicarstown and back and he was not pleased when he came back 6 hour's later. However, when he learned what Thomas did, he started dancing with his wife.... in the winter snow!!! -------------------------------- Thomas was finally done telling his story. He finally said "it may not be much.... but it's something...." The engines, however were shocked about the story. They were amazed and astonished about what they did for only one passenger. They were very pleased at Thomas.... even though the only other engine that was there in 1915 was Edward. Then Percy said "It may not be coming from you, but maybe... just maybe, it's a great story after all....." All the engines agree with him and start to whistle. The engines' crew are all clapping and whistling with all their might and Sir Topham Hatt, who overheard the whole story, was in tears with a tissue in one hand and hot chocolate in one hand. Soon the hot chocolates spilled all over the icy ground. The hand that once grasped it was now holding a tissue box. Thomas responds to all this with a very simple statement: "Maybe it is the most wonderful time of the year!" "Yes!" says the Fat Controller, "Yes! it truly is!." As if on schedule, Tiger Moth flys over them with a banner reading "Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!" Soon all the engines break into singing "Deck the Halls!" and they all go to bed with a truly jolly feeling inside them. The End Characters *Thomas *Edward *Henry *Gordon *James *Percy *Toby *Duck *Emily *Donald *Douglas *Oliver *Mavis *Boco *Bill *Ben *Daisy *Sir Topham Hatt *Tiger Moth (doesn't speak) Seen in flashback (spoken by Thomas) *Peter Brown *Lucille Brown *Topham Hatt I *The old lady *The old lady's family *Marcus and Benjy (do not speak) *The Great Bear (mentioned) Locations *Tidmouth Sheds *Tidmouth Station *Wellsworth Station *Brendam Docks *Vicarstown Bridge *Barrow Station *King's Cross Several unknown station's also appear in this episode. The names of the stations are unknown. However, they are in Preston, Liverpool, Newcastle-Under-Lyme, Dudley, Oxford, and Reading. Trivia *Even though this episode takes place after the events of Season 5, it airs after the final episode of Season 6 is released. It will be released, however, on the internet on Thanksgiving. *This marks Tiger Moth's first appearance in the series, as well as his last speaking role until Season 9. Category:Season 5 Category:TEHGJPTDDDO's Episodes Category:Vhs